Lower Hay Block

The Issue

The flatiron building at the corner of Free and Middle Streets was home to the H.H. Hay Drugstore from 1859 until 1964. A fourth floor was added to the commercial building from a design by John Calvin Stevens and John Howard Stevens. After the urban renewal programs that significantly altered the course of Middle Street and the closure of the drugstore, the first floor of the building was inappropriately altered with modern storefronts and the infill of historic openings.

Our Position

A multi-year plan restored the flat iron front and the Free Street elevation. Although small in scale and budget, the exterior restoration of the Lower Hay Block significantly improves the character of the historic building at the pedestrian level and restores a significant architectural feature of the flat iron façade at the entrance to a major pedestrian corridor in the downtown.

Greater Portland Landmarks awarded J.B. Brown, ttl-architects, and the construction team a 2014 Preservation Honor Award to celebrate the exterior restoration of this defining structure in Portland’s urban center.